§ MR. S. SMITH (Flintshire)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (1) whether any estimate has been given to Her Majesty's Government of the probable cost, to the Egyptian Treasury of carrying out the scheme for the payment of the Nile Corvée, to which Lord Cromer refers in his Report, Egypt, No. 3, 1893, p. 13; (2) whether it is the intention of the Egyptian Government to employ forced, unfed, and unpaid labour in the protection of the Nile banks during the approaching inundation; (3) and whether he can state approximately the number of men employed in 1892, the number of days' work, and the amount contributed in labour to the Egyptian Treasury by their compulsory employment?
§ THE UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS (Sir E. GREY,) Northumberland, Berwick(1) Various estimates as to the probable cost have been made, but no reliable calculation can be arrived at until experimental trials have been carried out on a small scale, and this it is now proposed to do. (2) During the approaching inundation the system hitherto in use will be followed, except in such district or districts as may be selected by the Egyptian Government for a trial of paid labour. (3) we have no data which enable a reply to be given to the last paragraph of the question, but the hon. Member will see from the previous part of any answer that the Egyptian Government is anxious to collect accurate statistics with which to lay a foundation for future reforms.